A Dated Idea of a ‘First Lady’

Feb. 8, 2017

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Melania Trump walked in the inaugural parade last month and vanished from public view shortly thereafter.CreditCreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

To the Editor:

I feel nothing but horror about Donald Trump’s presidency, but “Melania Trump’s Absence Raises Questions About Her Role” (news article, Feb. 3), about his wife’s delays in naming staff members and planning White House events, showed me that there is at least one thing about our presidency that is long overdue for change — the office of the first lady.

The idea that requests for White House tours and the planning of the Easter Egg Roll depend on the president’s spouse should be shocking to our 21st-century sensibilities. (Would we have expected Bill Clinton if he were “first man” to do such work?)

During my husband’s tenures at the head of three academic institutions, I made it clear that I would attend some events but that the work involved in planning and executing them was the college’s business, not mine. Let’s bring the White House up-to-date.

ADELIA MOORE

New Lebanon, N.Y.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 26 of the New York edition with the headline: Dated Idea of a ‘First Lady’. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe